About this course: Everywhere, every day, everybody uses language. There is no human society, no matter how small or how isolated, which does not employ a language that is rich and diverse. This course introduces you to linguistics, featuring interviews with well-known linguists and with speakers of many different languages. Join us to explore the miracles of human language! The Miracles of Human Language introduces you to the many-faceted study of languages, which has amazed humans since the beginning of history. Together with speakers of many other languages around the world, as well as with famous linguists such as Noam Chomsky and Adele Goldberg, you will learn to understand and analyse how your native tongue is at the same time similar and different from many other languages. You will learn the basic concepts of linguistics, get to know some of the key features of big and small languages and get insight into what linguists do. This course gives an introduction into the study of languages, the field of linguistics. With the support of the basic linguistic terminology that is offered in the course, you will soon be able to comment both on variety between languages, as well as on a single language’s internal structure. Anyone who wishes to understand how languages work, and how they can give us insight into the human mind is very welcome to join. The course is useful if you want to get a fairly quick introduction into linguistics, for instance because you are considering studying it further, or because you are interested in a neighbouring discipline such as psychology, computer science or anthropology. Furthermore, the course will help you develop analytical skills. If you are curious to understand how language works and how it gives insight into the human mind, this course is definitely for you!
Who is this class for: This course is free, and will remain free for participants. You can purchase a certificate.
Taught by: Marc van Oostendorp, Prof. Dr
Meertens instituut
| Level | Beginner |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Bulgarian |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
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Good course. Knew tuns of great things about languages and the course really opened my mind, taught me new ways to see the world. I also learnt many ways of learning through that course. To notice the reasons behind issues. To reach the truth through different methods. Etc. Thank you very much for having this course! The professor and guests were so nice!
Very interesting course! Thank you!
I have learned a lot from it.
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A really excellent intro to linguistics! I found the lectures straightforward and engaging. The assigned readings were really high quality, and they included a nice variety of styles and formats. The quizzes were difficult (maybe sometimes unnecessarily so) but I think this makes enrollees really pay attention to the content.